November 4, 2007 "Suffering" WHY?

(First Service opening story:)
A bishop called a gathering of all the ministers in his area for a one-day consultation and retreat. The man assigned for the opening devotions that day called in sick at the last minute. The bishop sought out a young man who had recently graduated from seminary and had just been ordained. The bishop explained what had happened, and then he asked this young clergyman to lead the morning devotions.

“Oh bishop,” he exclaimed, “I couldn’t do that. I have nothing prepared. I would not know what to say.”

The bishop handed the young man his own Bible. “Here, take my Bible and spend a few moments of quiet time somewhere doing your preparation. Then, just trust the Lord. Just trust the Lord.”

The young man knew he could not refuse the bishop a second time. He reluctantly took the Bible and began to leaf through the pages. He could not find a proper text, but he did find a number of pages in the Bible with notes on them. One piece of paper intrigued him. As he looked it over, he decided that it would provide a good outline for a morning devotional for the group.

The young clergyman presented the devotion with exceptional poise and grace. When he was finished, the bishop came running over to him. Expecting some kind of gracious response, instead he heard the bishop exclaim, “Young man! What do you think you are doing? You just used my notes for today’s closing worship service. Now what will I do for a message later on?”

The younger man looked at his bishop and counseled, “Just trust the Lord, Bishop. Just trust the Lord” (Devotions to Leave You Smiling, p. 34).

Is it hard to trust in the Lord? It’s not too hard when things are going great, right? But what about when things aren’t going great? That is a different
story.

(Second service opening story:)
When Mike Kollin was a linebacker for the Dolphins, his former coach at Auburn asked him to do some recruiting for him. Mike said, “Sure coach. What kind of player are you looking for?”

The coach said, “Well, Mike, you know there’s that fellow, you knock him down, he just stays down?” Mike replied, “We don’t want him, do we coach?”

“No, that’s right. Then there’s that fellow, you know him down and he gets up, but you knock him down again and he stays down.” Mike replied, “We don’t want him either, do we coach?”

Coach said, “No, but Mike, there’s the fellow, you knock him down, he gets up. Knock him down, he gets up. Knock him down, he gets up. Knock him down, he gets up.

Mike said, “That’s the guy we want, isn’t it coach?”

The coach answered, “No, we don’t want him either. I want you to find that guy who’s knocking everybody down. That’s the guy we want!” (Illustrations Unlimited, p. 466).

It is one thing to get knocked down in a football game. What about when life knocks you down? What if life knocks you down again and again?

Someone once said, “I thought that I had a handle on life, then the handle fell off.” Another person compared life to “…a chicken trying to lay an egg on an escalator: as soon as she settles in, the bottom drops out.”

John Fishcer in his article The Fine Print writes:

“We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.” (2 Corinthians 4:8-10 NLT)

These verses are what I call the fine print of the Christian life. When you sign up, you sign up for this, but unfortunately, not too many people read that far into the contract, and not enough leaders point it out. So when bad things start happening to us, we think something went wrong with our faith. Not necessarily. In fact, it’s an honor to think that your faith is worthy of being tested.

It’s a reverse spiritual principle that nonetheless is true: We get beaten down so that Christ might rise in us. It’s the whole idea God has of avoiding confusion. See, he doesn’t want people confusing human power and achievement with his power and what he is achieving in and through our lives. If all Christians were super-Christians, people would be impressed with them. As it is, God wants people to be surprised at us, not so much impressed – surprised that we can keep on believing, given what has happened to us. Surprised at us – impressed with God. That’s the way it should go.

It’s important to know this so that the things that happen don’t throw us into a tailspin. Paul wrote in the passage above that troubles, confusions, knock-downs, and drag-outs are all to be expected in a life of faith, and they are not just something to suck it up and endure, they are what will actually release the power of God in our lives. We encounter death-like experiences so that Christ’s life-like nature may clearly be seen in us, despite what is happening.

Let me try and say this again. This is not just endurance training through tough times. This is God’s strategy for ministry through us. There is no other way for it to be done. His strategy is his power and strength through our weakness – his life through our death. This doesn’t just happen to some Christians; it happens to us all if we desire to be effective in our faith.

So don’t forget the fine print today, and allow the troubles you face to springboard you into finding God’s purposes even in this. He had this planned all along. It’s even in the contract!

The Bible says, “Everyone who wants to be like Christ will suffer! At the Nicene Council, an important church meeting in the 4th century A.D., of the 318 delegates attending, fewer than 12 had not lost an eye or lost a hand or did not limp on a leg lamed by torture for their Christian faith. (Vance Havner.)

It would be safe to say that tragedies are part of the norm of life. There is little doubt that the righteous have trouble, too. Maybe the question we have about this is not so much “Why?” but perhaps it is, “Why is it sometimes so severe?” Shouldn’t there be some fringe benefits to belonging to God? Shouldn’t we be protected from the worse of life if we have claimed to be his? I’ll try to answer this today.

David Watson serves as a great example of a good person going through a bad time. He was a minister in England. He died of cancer before these words of his were published.

"It's sometimes only through suffering that we begin to listen to God. Our natural pride and self-confidence have to be stripped painfully away and we become aware, perhaps for the first time, of our own personal needs.

"During the ministry of Jesus on earth, a tower fell in Siloam and killed 18 innocent people. 'Why did God allow it' was the immediate questions pressed by those around Him. Jesus replied, not by answering the question of suffering nor by giving a satisfactory solution to this particular tragedy. Instead, He came back to the practical challenge of God's Word: 'I tell you...unless you repent you will all likewise perish.' It may sound a little bleak, but Jesus was far more concerned with a person's eternal well-being than merely satisfying an intellectual curiosity. Here He was dealing not with the question of 'Why?' but with the question 'What?' 'What is God saying in this calamity?'"

Watson concludes, "Through the unexpected diagnosis of cancer I was forced to consider carefully my priorities in life and to make some necessary adjustments. I still do not know why God allowed it, nor does it bother me. But, I am beginning to hear what God is saying, and this has been enormously helpful to me." (Morning Glory, January 21, 1994.)

Christ did not come to do away with suffering; He did not come to explain it; He came to fill it with His presence. And he himself was not exempt from suffering. The very son of God went to the cross – suffering the worst kind of personal tragedy. If anyone had fringe benefits, it would have been Christ. If anyone deserved that special divine protection, it would have been Christ. God does not draw such a distinction. God has a plan. Sometimes that plan requires major trials. Christ’s suffering was terrible, but it was a suffering with purpose. He died in our place, taking our sins to the cross and making a way for us to get to heaven. All we must do is ask Christ to come into our hearts.

There is a grand purpose in the suffering of every born-again person. What purposes, you may ask? How about these purposes:
1. Suffering can promote our spiritual maturity (Ps 105:16ff)
2. Suffering proves our integrity (1 Pt 3:15)
3. Suffering produce a sense of dependence
4. Suffering prepares our hearts for ministry (more empathetic)

These are just a few. Here are some more silver linings; suffering:

1. Produces character and hope
2. Shows the power of Christ
3. Shows the glory of God
4. Shows what faith can do
5. Teaches dependence on God
6. Enables us to comfort those in trouble
7. Shows the proof of faith
8. Allows us to suffer for the cause of Christ
9. Keeps down pride
10. Suffering can come because of another's sin
11. Suffering can come because we are part of a fallen race
12. Because we reap what we sow
13. Because of the sovereignty of God
14. Because our enemy wants us to suffer
15. For reasons known only to God

Suffering teaches us patience. These words were found penned on the wall of a prison cell in Europe: "I believe in love even when I don't feel it. I believe in God even when He is silent." (Billy Graham, Till Armageddon.)

This is all saints Sunday. Those who died with Christ in their hearts can testify today that all the struggle in this life is worth what they have received! Maybe we can hear their cheers – even if but a whisper – come on, keep going, you are almost home!

Someone asked C.S. Lewis, "Why do the righteous suffer?" "Why not?" he replied. "They're the only ones who can take it."

Helen Keller once wrote: "Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.”

Frank and Billie Wilcox were living in Pakistan many years ago. Their six-month-old baby died. An old Punjabi who heard of their grief came to comfort them. "A tragedy like this is similar to being plunged into boiling water," he explained. "If you are an egg, your affliction will make you hard-boiled and unresponsive. If you are a potato, you will emerge soft and pliable, resilient and adaptable." It may sound funny to God, but there have been times when I have prayed, "O Lord, let me be a potato." (Guideposts Magazine)

O Lord, let us be potatoes.